REBELS

David L. Cunningham.

Release Date: TBA ??

Distributor: Currently seeking distribution in the USA.Production Companies: Walden Media (Holes), Gone Fishin Productions (Hidalgo, Gigli)Cast:Not announced yet. (Jim Caviezel was originally to have played Ethan Allen, but is no longer working on this production.)Screenwriter: John Fusco

Based upon:
The true story of Revolutionary War leader Ethan Allen (no, he didn't sell furniture) (1738-1789) and his group of fighters, the Green Mountain Boys, who fought for the freedom of Vermont before the War officially started. The conflict arose because selling rights to the land that is now Vermont was given to both New Hampshire and New York. When a ruling invalidated all sales done with New Hampshire, New York tried to roust the over 100 New Hampshire-sold townships, inspiring the Vermont settlers to take up arms. The name refers to the Green Mountains they felt they were being pushed into (out of their new homes). The Republic of Vermont lasted from 1777-1791 (when it became the 14th state of the U.S.A.).

Premise:
Detailing events that led up to the Revolutionary War, this is the story of Vermont freedom fighter Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys, a group of settlers who fought the New Yorkers, hoping to make Vermont a republic free from their control. In 1775, the battle won, they then joined their foes in alliance against the British, invading Fort Ticonderoga in New York, liberating it from the British, while they slept (without having fired a single shot), with the help of a now infamous leader named Benedict Arnold ...

Premise Note:
(11/5/01) How far into the Revolutionary War this film will go is unknown. The seizure of Ticonderoga seems likely to be included, but as this film focuses on the formation of the Green Mountain Boys, it might be the ending (or maybe the film will indeed include the whole film... I really don't know). The Green Mountain Boys' most important battle after Fort Ticonderoga was the Battle of Bennington in 1777. Ethan Allen was no longer the leader then; he was captured by the British in 1775; released in 1778. Although made a colonel in the Continental Army, he played no major role in most of the Revolutionary War, having spent so much of it in jail.

Filming:Production *was* scheduled to start in late July, 2002 in either Eastern Europe or Canada (pushed back three months from April, 2002), but due to changes in the cast, it is now in very early pre-production, with no definite cast or filming location.